You just finished your product. Now what?
Now you need a clear plan to get your first users.
And be honest - if someone asked you:
"What is your go-to-market strategy?" - could you answer it?
Most founders can't.
When I started, I had no plan at all.
I posted on social media here and there. I ran some ads.
I didn't even know who my target audience was.
Six months in, and I still had zero users.
That's what happens when you don't have a clear plan.
Here's the exact go-to-market strategy you need - the one I wish I had when I started. And step 1 is probably not what you think.
Now you need a clear plan to get your first users.
And be honest - if someone asked you:
"What is your go-to-market strategy?" - could you answer it?
Most founders can't.
When I started, I had no plan at all.
I posted on social media here and there. I ran some ads.
I didn't even know who my target audience was.
Six months in, and I still had zero users.
That's what happens when you don't have a clear plan.
Here's the exact go-to-market strategy you need - the one I wish I had when I started. And step 1 is probably not what you think.
Define the big problem you solve
Most founders think once their product is finished the next step is to get users right away. So, they run ads, do content, email people, whatever.
But that doesn't work.
It all starts with a question you probably haven't asked yourself in months.
What big problem am I solving?
It sounds obvious, right?
But it's not.
You've spent weeks, maybe months building your product.
You've made everything look good, you've done the onboarding flow,
added dark mode, integrations … and somewhere along the way, between the twenty different features you built, you forgot the big problem you were actually trying to solve.
I did the same thing.
I could tell you everything about my product.
But I couldn't tell you in one sentence why anyone should use it.
So, take five minutes and write down:
"What is the ONE BIG PROBLEM my product solves?"
Maybe you save someone two hours a week by automating their weekly report. Or maybe you help them close more deals because your tool follows up for them automatically.
Get specific like that - not "saves time," or "makes more money."
You want to get crystal clear about the problem you solve.
And you need to make sure you've found - what I like to call - a painkiller,
not a vitamin. Nobody rushes out at 11pm to buy a vitamin.
But people will pay anything for a painkiller.
Whatever that painkiller is - that becomes the message for everything you do. On your website, in your ads, and in your content.
That's what makes someone stop and think:
"I have this exact problem. I need this."
If you want help with all of this - that's exactly what we work on in my Startup Mastermind. I will help you plan your go to market strategy,
you will get personal coaching from me, and you can join a community
of founders so you can see what worked for them.
You can join here:
Define who your users are
Now, let me show you something.
A member of my mastermind built an app that gives you meditation tips,
so you can relax during the workday.
He told me: "Everybody can use this."
Watch what happens when you say that.
This is what "My product is for everyone" looks like:
You have no idea who's really going to use it.
You have no idea what people actually want.
And everything you do becomes a guess.
→ You use a random headline on your website
→ You don’t know if you should charge €2 or €20 for your product
→ You don’t know if you can reach users on Instagram or via email
This is why so many startups fail.
The product itself is great, but you just don’t know who your users are.
So, try this. It's the exact exercise I use to fix it.
Describe your ideal user so specifically that a stranger could pick them out in a room.
Let's do it with the meditation app.
The meditation app is for people who work in an office, are between 25 and 40 years old, have back-to-back meetings all day, feel stressed - and are already Googling "how to relax at work".
Do you see how much clearer that already is?
So "My app is for everyone who is stressed" is not an answer.
That’s just way too broad.
Make it as specific as possible.
Notice something for a second. You probably already have a face in mind right now. Someone specific. Maybe a past coworker, a friend, someone you've talked to about this exact problem before. That's a good sign.
Now combine that person with the big problem from before.
That's your foundation to get your first users.
But don’t rush now. Don’t use that and go straight to ads or content.
Don’t make that mistake. There's one more step first.
Talk to real people
Talk to ten people like that. Real people.
People who have this problem every day.
But you don’t pitch - you want to hear the exact words they use to describe their problem. You're going to steal those words for your marketing later.
Like, the headline on your website, your ads, and your content.
Send them this message:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey [Name],
I am talking to [target audience] who [problem].
I want to learn how you handle [task] today - what works and what is frustrating.
Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call this week or next?"
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You want to get people on the call.
And on the call, you don't pitch. You don’t show your demo.
You let them talk. You just take notes - especially on the exact words and phrases they use. Ask ...
• How are you handling this problem today?
• What's most frustrating about it?
• What have you tried before to fix it?
You want to really understand their world.
And if you feel your product would be a good fit for them, that’s your moment. You say something like:
"We've been working on solving this exact problem - can I quickly show you what we've built?"
And then you show your demo. 5 minutes, no more.
Show them exactly how you solve their problem and what they get when they use it.
Most founders stop right here.
They get a nod, a 'cool, thanks,' and they walk away and think they have a great product. Don't do that. Instead, make an easy offer so they can become your first users. Something like:
"I'll release this for €20 a month later, but as an early user, I would like to offer it to you for €10 a month, lifetime. What do you think?"
And then you listen - like really listen.
• Every objection could be your future copy.
• Every question could be a future FAQ.
• Every word they use could be your next headline.
This is why those 10 calls are so important.
You can spend ten thousand euros on ads and still have no idea what people actually care about. Ten real conversations will teach you more than any ad campaign ever will.
Now - what if it doesn't go well?
What if you run these calls and nobody says "Sign me up"?
Well, that doesn't mean you failed. It means you need to adjust.
Maybe you talked to the wrong people or maybe the problem isn't sharp enough. Maybe both.
If so, go back to step 1 and 2 and sharpen the user profile. Sharpen the pain. Then talk to ten more people.
But if people are saying yes, and if they're actually paying - that's the sign you’re looking for. And you double down.
Find more of the same people
And once you've got your first real paying users, the game changes.
It’s about getting more of the right ones.
The first thing you do is to take the exact words and phrases from those 10 calls and put them straight into your website and marketing.
For example, if someone on a call said, "I feel guilty stepping away for a break, so I never actually relax" - you use that right away.
And your headline that used to be "Meditation made simple" becomes
"The meditation app for people who feel guilty taking a break."
One of those sounds like every other app.
The other one sounds like it was built for exactly one person - the one you talked to.
You want people to stop and say "This is exactly for me".
That's how you get more of the right people.
Your next steps
When your product is finished, you don't start marketing right away.
That's how you burn a ton of money and still end up reaching the wrong people.
Instead, ...
→ get crystal clear on the big problem you solve.
→ define exactly who your users are.
→ talk to 10 potential users.
→ use their words and phrases in your website and the marketing copy.
Do these things first and then you can start to scale with content or ads.
If you want help with all of that - join my startup mastermind.
You can also join the community, connect with other founders, and learn what worked them.

